Diving With Sperm Whales Can Be Painful or Deadly

Sperm whales’ clicks are powerful enough to penetrate and vibrate your entire body to death.

Sperm whales are amazing in so many ways.  They are very powerful and feed at depths on squid that can be as large as they are.   Yet, they appear so docile, trusting and friendly around divers.

In fact, the only way to get near them is by freediving. This is because they tend to flee the noises generated by scuba equipment as well as subs and robots.

Sperm whales are also extremely loud. They are known to be the loudest animal on the planet.   Divers described their sounds to be flesh penetrating.

A sperm whale’s clicks are powerful enough for them to communicate with other sperm whales thousands of miles away. They are also powerful enough to easily blow out a divers eardrums or vibrate a diver to death.

In fact, as explained in the video below, divers have been known to report the side effects of these powerful clicks. The include partial paralysis as well as general body heating.

Watch the clip below. James Nestor explains provides more details as well as a video demonstration of these powerful clicks.

While normal human speech takes place between 60 and 65 decibels (dB), sperm whale clicks, described as such because we hear them as “tak-tak-tak”, can reach as high as 235dB. In contrast, a loud rock concert is around 115dB and the sound of a jet engine is roughly 140dB. Quite simply, sperm whales are the loudest animals on the planet.

Such is the power of their clicks that whales can comfortably transmit information to others from hundreds of miles away, and even across vast oceans. A sound of 180dB is enough to cause drastic cell death in your ears, but the most powerful sperm whale clicks will not merely deafen you: they can vibrate the fragile human body to pieces.

Read more here on bbc.com

The following clip explains in detail how sperm whales generate those penetrating clicks.

As explained in the video above, divers also express a certain connection to these whales. This connection is described as totally different than with any other animals.

Read more about the experiences and discoveries of a group of sperm whale researchers in what’s called project DareWin in the following article here on bbc.com.

A freediving experience with Sperm Whales

Images Source: YouTube Clips

“They don’t swim away, and they don’t attack. They become curious. Often, they welcome us into their pods and send us communication clicks. They are, in essence, reaching out to us.” H/T The Long Now Foundation

The following video explains the sleeping habits of Sperm Whales

Images Source: YouTube Clips1, 2, 3

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